Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe

We love making Pork Carnitas in the slow cooker. A fun twist on traditional carnitas that cooks all day long. This Pork carnitas recipe is perfect for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or on top of salads.

What are Carnitas?

Before we get to the recipe we figured we better answer the question we were asked so many times after posting this recipe, and honestly one that we asked before we made it too.

What are Carnitas? And why is it any different than regular cooked meat?

After a little research, I found that carnitas are a Mexican specialty of seasoned pulled pork, traditionally fried in lard, with a mixture of juicy and crispy browned parts. Carnitas are great in sandwiches, or as a filling for tamales.

This recipe for pork carnitas is definitely not fried in lard, but slow cooked to perfection with delicious spices and then broiled for that perfect crispy texture on the edges.

So although these may not be traditional carnitas, it’s definitely a healthier and tastier version.

Tips for Cooking Meat in a Slow Cooker

I used to hate cooking anything in my slow cooker because I felt like it always came out dry and flavorless.For some reason, everything I cooked in my slow cooker tasted exactly the same.

If you’re looking for a good slow cooker, we’d highly recommend this programmable one!

After so much trial and error I finally found the secret to making delicious meat that literally falls apart when you even touch it with a fork. Here are a few tips we’d suggest:

1. Choose the Right Cut of Meat

This can be one of the most important factors in getting good results from your slow cooker. Fatty and tougher meats tend to do best (chuck roasts, pork shoulders, and short ribs).

Leaner meats will dry out quicker in your slow cooker. When cooking chicken, we’d recommend substituting the darker parts of the chicken like thighs and drumsticks for the breasts. These will be much juicier.

2. Low and Slow

This is something to always remember when cooking in your slow cooker. You want to keep the temperature on low, if possible, and let it cook all day. Try and avoid the “high” setting as much as possible when cooking with meat.

3. Include Enough Liquids

Another very important rule when cooking meat in the slow cooker is making sure you have enough liquid. If you don’t have any liquid with your meat, it won’t have anything to make it moist.

If you’re cooking chicken breasts, a great liquid to throw in is some chicken broth. It’s a much tastier alternative to water. Beef broth works great with beef as well.

4. Don’t Take Off Your Lid

This is much easier said than done! It’s important to fight the urge to lift the lid to check on your recipe or give it a stir.

In most cases, stirring halfway through is not necessary, unless otherwise noted in the recipe directions. Remember every time you do open your lid, it will add about 15 extra minutes of cook time.

How to Serve Pork Carnitas

Our favorite way to serve pork carnitas is in the form of tacos. Spoon some meat onto your favorite quesadilla and top with traditional taco condiments. Here’s what we like to top ours with:

Green peppers

Red peppers

Sliced tomato

Cheddar cheese

Avocado

Onion

Lime juice

Sour cream

This meat also works great in burritos, enchiladas, or even on top of your favorite salad. It makes great leftovers too!

Have you heard about our newest cookbook,Copycat Cooking? We took over 100 of our favorite restaurant recipes and simplified them so that you can make them right at home!

Every recipe has a beautiful mouth-watering photo and has been picky-eater approved. The directions are simple, easy to follow, and do not require any strange ingredients.

Thiscookbookincludes copycat recipes from Wingers, Texas Roadhouse, Starbucks, Panera, Cheesecake Factory, Kneaders, and so much more. We have you covered from drinks, to dessert and everything in-between.

We are so excited to share these recipes with you. Order your copy today!

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 5-6 hours (I would recommend the low setting). Remove roast from slow cooker when finished cooking and shred using two forks (it should fall apart pretty easily).

Cover a large baking sheet (15x10x1") with foil and spread the shredded meat on top of it. Pour some of the liquid from the slow cooker over the meat (I used about 1 1/2 cups - use as much or as little as you like).

Broil meat for about 5 minutes, until it starts to caramelize around the edges (I flipped my meat once during this time).

Would you rather use an Instant Pot than a slow cooker? Here’s how to make Instant Pot Carnitas!

SHARE

Menu Plans

We know how hard it can be to get dinner on the table and that is exactly why we created our menu planning service! We offer several menu options so you can find the plan that works best for your family. Each week you will receive a menu plan and detailed shopping list that will make shopping a breeze! Each plan includes 6 main dish, 2 side dish, 2 dessert, and optional side dish recipes. We’ve done all the busy work for you, so you just need to shop and cook!

Comment on this Recipe

21 Responses to “Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe”

Haha. You're so funny Camille. Lard is found in the aisle right next to the shortening. Easy to find in Walmart. But it is kind of gross to think about. Anyway, I made a recipe similar to this one if you want to check it out: http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2013/04/crockpot-pork-carnitas.html. I crisped mine under the broiler as well (no lard for me either!)

Can't wait to try these! I've got them ready to go in the slow cooker sometime this week! Yum yum! Gave you a shout out over at Incomplete Guide to Living today! Hope you'll stop by and check it out! :)
~Beth xoxo

Hi Denise, Just click on the MAGIC button under the picture and then on Nutrition. It will give you the servings, nutritional value and weight watcher points on the recipe. It's our sister site - MyRecipeMagic.com. We have over 23,000 recipes on My Recipe Magic. It's a great place to look for ANY recipe.

We have only made it in the slow cooker. I'm sure it would work in the oven. We can't tell you for how long and on what temperature. You may have to play with it a little to get it just right in the oven.